Anyone taken this course lately? I've read over the old thread, but was wondering about HARFOUSH. Thanks for any info.

7/3/2006 10:32:46 AM

taking this in the fall, lets hope it's a good class

7/4/2006 11:32:59 PM

i took ta lower lvl security course with him and it was alright. i felt like he was a little disorganized, but it is possible that it was his first time teaching said course.

i had a helluva time trying to make an office appointment with him as well. in our class we were REQUIRED to meet with him for stage 1 of our project. problem was he didnt have enough time slots and since we were one of the last to register, he had no spot for us (wtf mate). we contacted him via email and decided to meet him at some time that was convenient for him which ended up taking over 2 weeks (he ended up having to change the project for me b/c of the delay). he simply forgot about the first meeting or two and had a family emergency during the third (and didnt tell us so we sat around for 30 mins before someone else told us).

he was doing a lot of research at the time (it seemed) and was always rushing places, but you simply cannot treat students like that when you REQUIRE them to meet with you. he was very nice about everything, but it is extremely frustrating to have a project worth 25-35% of your grade put on the backburner like that. in the end he was fair and changed the project requirements for me, but only b/c his original plan would have been unreasonable at the time.

it was also a lot easier to read his slides and the book than to listen to him in class. he's not bad at teaching, but is, like many in CSC, a bit boring. id imagine a project course would be a bit different though.

overall he is a nice guy and not a bad teacher, but there were some issues that were EXTREMELY frustrating within my class. if i had to guess, id say that is the exception, but is worth knowing going in.

[Edited on July 5, 2006 at 9:24 AM. Reason : .]

7/5/2006 9:14:38 AM

Your CSC project courses may list one instructor, but who your advisor is / who you will see 75%+ of the time may be another issue. Talk with Harfoush and see what *known* projects/instructors are involved in CSC402 for the upcoming fall semester.

7/5/2006 7:26:46 PM

bttt

7/8/2006 9:56:44 AM

bttt

7/11/2006 10:20:46 AM

anyone?

7/25/2006 7:29:26 PM

actually sammie is leading the class.

7/27/2006 9:23:35 AM

anyone know if sammie is going to teach csc405 again?

7/27/2006 6:27:32 PM

think he said he was doing 402 but not 405 unless they begged him or something

7/27/2006 9:46:47 PM

^
that sucks, I wonder why?

7/28/2006 1:18:35 AM

bttt

8/21/2006 10:52:15 AM

i'm amazed they let sammie teach - i was in csc333 with him as well as another course or 2 - when he basically failed every single test but Balik took pity on him and passed him anyways

8/21/2006 11:34:38 AM

It's because he's really motivated and he loves what he does which is more than I can say for most of the other professors.

8/21/2006 11:49:38 AM

^yep

8/22/2006 10:28:45 AM

^^ that and he knows his networking and security shit. 333 while important, isn't either of those.

8/23/2006 11:02:40 AM

Yeah, he knows his security a little too well from what my old ncsu coworkers tell me.

8/23/2006 11:29:56 AM

Quote :

"anyone know if sammie is going to teach csc405 again?"

There's a lot of sensitive/political issues when teaching a course from a more practical perspective. You can still teach the basics of security / textbook material and those interested will take the extra iniative and find out more about the practical side. Sucks, but last thing to see on national media is "NC State CSC student breaks into FBI database after learning hacking skills in security course".

Anyways, synapse, any updates on how the course is going to be organized this semester?

8/23/2006 12:20:39 PM

^
Sucks cause I really wanted to take his security class. I have no interest in learning a bunch of theory. Practical skills are what get jobs

8/23/2006 10:06:21 PM

Connections are what get jobs.

8/23/2006 10:38:10 PM

Connections are what get jobs.

8/24/2006 11:31:51 AM

any thoughts on the potential projects after the first day?

8/24/2006 11:10:10 PM